Mark Power moved up to fourth on the Bridgestone Order of Merit following his runner-up finish at the East of Ireland
The top three remain unchanged in the Bridgestone Order of Merit but Kilkenny’s rising star Mark Power has moved into contention after finishing second at the East of Ireland.
Robin Dawson, winner of this year’s Flogas Irish Amateur Open, tops the table from Castle’s Alex Gleeson with West of Ireland champion Robert Brazill in third. Moving up four places after his East of Ireland performance, Power now occupies fourth place.
Power came through the pack at Co Louth to make a bold bid for the title. His final round 68 gave him the clubhouse lead until South African Christo Lamprecht birdied the last to claim a two-stroke victory.
Power’s reward for finishing second at the East is 160 order of merit points, which moves him ahead of Mallow’s James Sugrue. And the two-time Irish Boys champion is now just 45 points outside the top three.
“I’m really happy with it,” said Power reflecting on his result at the East. “I have a little bit of a break after this week, then British Amateur and European Individual after that so it’s nice to have a bit of form going into those tournaments because they’re really big tournaments.”
Now that he has risen to fourth in the Bridgestone race, Power is pushing for a place in the Ireland men’s team for this year’s Home Internationals. Power turns 18 this month and is still eligible to play at boys level but he can secure his first senior cap by finishing in the top two on the Bridgestone Order of Merit.
It was also a good week for Dundalk’s Caolan Rafferty and Massereene’s Tiarnan McLarnon at Co Louth. Rafferty was third overall, earning 130 order of merit points, and McLarnon gained 100 points by finishing fourth. Rafferty and McLarnon now share 11th place in the Bridgestone table.
The next event in the series is the Connacht Stroke Play (9-10 June) at Portumna. The other remaining events are: North of Ireland (9-13 July), South of Ireland (25-29 July) and AIG Irish Close (4-8 August).
BRIDGESTONE ORDER OF MERIT – AFTER EAST OF IRELAND
1 Robin Dawson (Tramore) 503
2 Alex Gleeson (Castle) 410
3 Robert Brazill (Naas) 345
4 Mark Power (Kilkenny) 278
5 James Sugrue (Mallow) 233
6 James Fox (Portmarnock) 205
7 Eanna Griffin (Waterford) 160
8 Alan Fahy (Dun Laoghaire) 150
9 Jack Madden (Royal Portrush) 145
10 Jack Pierse (Portmarnock) 133
T11 Caolan Rafferty (Dundalk), Tiarnán McLarnon (Massereene) 130
13 Ronan Mullarney (Galway) 118
14 Dylan Brophy (Castleknock) 117
15 Stephen Watts (Cairndhu) 114
T16 Jack McDonnell (Forrest Little), Gary O'Flaherty (Cork) 108
18 TJ Ford (Co Sligo) 105
19 Ryan Gribben (Warrenpoint) 100
20 John Hickey (Cork) 92
T21 Allan Hill (Athenry), Jonathan Yates (Naas), Devin Morley (Oughterard) 90
24 Peter O'Keeffe (Douglas) 86
25 Michael Ryan (New Ross) 80
26 Thomas O'Connor (Athlone), 78
27 Robert Cannon (Balbriggan) 75
28 Andrew McCormack (Castletroy) 70
29 Rowan Lester (Hermitage) 63
30 Marc McKinstry (Cairndhu) 62
T31 Gerard Dunne (Co Louth), Paul Coughlan (Castleknock), Peter McKeever (Castle), Richard Knightly (Royal Dublin), Keith Egan (Carton House), Fraser Carr (Kirkistown Castle) 60
T37 Kyle McCarron (North West), Reece Black (Hilton Templepatrick), Shane McDermott (Co Cavan), Barry Anderson (Royal Dublin), Paraic Connolly (Killeen Castle), Sean Flanagan (Co Sligo), Rory Williamson (Holywood) 58
44 Mark Collins (Killeen Castle) 42
45 Ian O'Rourke (Royal Dublin) 41
46 Aaron Grant (Dundalk) 39
47 Darragh Coghlan (Portmarnock) 37
T48 Robert Moran (Castle), Conor Ryan (Dun Laoghaire), Eddie McCormack (Galway Bay), Robbie Hynes (Royal Dublin), Charlie Denvir (Elm Park), Allan Hill (Athenry), Niall Hearns (Mountrath), Fergal Kennedy (The Island), Cian Geraghty (Laytown & Bettystown), David McAleenon (Edenmore), Peter O'Keeffe (Douglas), Gary Collins (Rosslare), William Small (Tandragee), William Russell (Clandeboye), John McCarthy (Stackstown), Gerard Dunne (Co Louth), Jack Doherty (Carton House), Thomas Neenan (Lahinch), Paul Coughlan (Castleknock), Anthony McDaid (Palmerstown Stud), Peter McKeever (Castle), Andrew McCormack (Castletroy), Richard Knightly (Royal Dublin), Gary McDermott (Carton House), Paul O'Hanlon (Carton House), Jack Walsh (Castle), Aaron Marshall (Lisburn), Ryan McKinstry (Cairndhu), Seamus Cullen (Slieve Russell), John Greene (Portmarnock), Jamie Fletcher (Warrenpoint), John Brady (Rosslare), Aaron Kearney (Castlerock), Keith Egan (Carton House), Dwayne Mallon (Dungannon), Marc Nolan (Dun Laoghaire), Fraser Carr (Kirkistown Castle), Alex Maguire (Laytown & Bettystown), Gavin Smyth (Clonmel), Sean Ryan (Royal Dublin), Luke O'Neill (Connemara), Jake Whelan (Newlands), Michael Sinclair (Knock), Conor Purcell (Portmarnock), Matthew McClean (Malone), Geoff Lenehan (Portmarnock), Colin Woodroofe (Dun Laoghaire), Gary Cullen (Beaverstown), Eugene Smith (Laytown & Bettystown), John Murphy (Kinsale), Padraic O'Brien (Co. Louth), Hugh O'Hare (Fortwilliam), David Foy (Laytown & Bettystown), Sean Doyle (Black Bush), Alan Lowry (Esker Hills), Stephen Healy (Royal Dublin), Alan Dowling (Hermitage) 30
